Bush's ledger, notice that there were no questions about new taxes or Neil Bush.
"Was Bush's Sunday diatribe staged?", asked the Washington Post some days later. White House
officials denied it. "He did it because he felt that way," said one. "There was no intention
beforehand to assume a posture just for the impact." [fn 43] Dr. Josef Goebbels was famous for his
ability to deliver a speech as if it were a spontaneous emotional outburst, and the afterward
cynically review it point by point and stratagem by stratagem. There is much evidence that Bush didnot possess this degree of lucidity and internal critical distance.
Bush went into the White House for yet another meeting of the NSC. At this meeting, it was already
a foregone conclusion that there would be a large US military deployment, although that had never
been formally deliberated by the NSC. It had been a solo decision by Busformality of Saudi assent. h. There was now only the
Monday at the White House was dominated by the presence of Margaret Thatcher at her staunchest.
Thatcher's theme was now that the enforcement of the economic sanctions voted by the UN would
require a naval blockade in which the Anglo-Saxon combined fleets would play the leading role.Thatcher's first priority was that the sanctions had to be made to work. But if Washington and
London were to conclude that a naval blockade were necessary for that end, she went on, "you
would have to consider such a move." Thatcher carted out her best Churchillian rhetoric to
advertize that Britain already had one warship stationed in the Persian Gulf, and that two more
frigates, one from Mombassa and one from Malaysia, were on their way. "Those sanctions must beenforceable," raved Thatcher, who had never accepted economic sanctions against South Africa. "I
cannot remember a time when we had the world so strongly together against an action as now."
Bush immediately took Thatcher's cue: "We need to discuss full and total implementation of these
sanctions, ruling out nothing at all. These sanctions must be enforced. I think the will of the nationsaround the world-- not just the NATO countries-- not just the EC, not just one area of the world--
the will of the nations around the world will be to enforce these sanctions. We'll leave the details of
how we implement it to the future, but we'll begin working on that immediately. That's how we go
about encouraging others to do that and what we ourselves should be doing." [fn 44] In the midst of
these proceedings, NATO Secretary General Manfred Woerner showed up, and tried his hand atbeing staunch, but he could not come close to Thatcher. All of a sudden, the British were at the
center of things again, the most important country, all on the basis of the token forces they were
deploying. With Thatcher there, Bush had the fig-leaf of an instant international coalition to use as a
bludgeon against domestic critics.
The breast-beating about the enforcement of the sanctions signalled that the Anglo-Americans were
going on a diplomatic offensive against countries like Germany, Japan, and many in the third world
who might have assumed a neutral or pacifist position in the crisis. Baker had been travelling in
Siberia with Shevardnadze when Iraq had entered Kuwait, and Soviet condemnation of Iraq had
been immediate. Many countries, especially in the third world, now found tclosing ranks with the Anglo-Americans, the margin of maneuver they had enjoyed during the coldhat with the Soviets (^)
war was now totally gone. Countries like Jordan, the Sudan, Yemen, the PLO, and others who
expressed understanding for Iraqi motives went to the top of the Anglo-American hit list. Bush
assumed the role of top cop himself, with gusto: according to Fitzwater, the "speed dialing mode"
had produced 20 calls to 12 different world leaders over slightly more than three days.
When Cheney arrived in Saudi Arabia, the essence of his mission was to convey to King Fahd and
his retinue that the first elements of the 82nd Airborne Division would be landing within an hour or
two, and that the Saudi monarchy would be well advised to welcome them. In effect, Cheney was
there to tell the Saudis that they were an occupied country, and that the United States would assume